Argentine President Alberto Fernandez Travels To Meet Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President-Elect Of Brazil

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez flew to Brazil on Monday to congratulate President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva after his win on Sunday.

He went on to call Lula a “partner to work with and dream big with," reported Reuters. Lula’s victory consolidates a new “pink tide” of leftist electoral gains in Latin America, and Argentina’s Peronist leader promptly celebrated the election result. He had a tense relationship with right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro over the past four years.

Fernandez said that Lula’s election win ushers in a "new era for the history of Latin America," and a "time of hope and future that begins today."

The Argentine President also posted a clip on his Twitter account in which he appeared to be embracing Lula.

As he posted a video of him embracing his Brazilian counterpart, Fernandez sent out all his "love, admiration and respect, dear comrade," and said that they have a future that embraces them and summons them.

Following the meeting in Sao Paulo, Fernandez said that Lula's first trip abroad before his Jan. 1, 2023, inauguration will be to Argentina, reported Merco Press.

Fernandez said during a press conference that Lula gave him the enormous joy of telling him that "his first visit will be to Argentina," and that he will "visit us before he takes office and he knows that Argentina is his home." He shared that everyone knows his bond with Lula, and that the appreciation, the highest consideration he can have for someone, "I have for him."

Fernandez noted that with Lula, they share a common goal, which is "the need for Latin American integration, the need for democracy to be consolidated throughout the continent, and the need for electoral processes to be duly respected."

He said that Lula had told him to travel on Sunday, but since it was going to be too crowded, the two agreed to meet on Monday. He shared that the two leaders "were able to have lunch and talk about the common challenges that await us."

The Argentine President also said that they had reviewed the war between Russia and Ukraine, and that U.S. President Joe Biden had called while they were interacting.